No, Mommy… You can’t go run. I want pancakes.

Sunday morning. The first morning in a week that the temperatures have been over 20 degrees. This means… RUNNING!!! I’ve been waiting for this morning for a week. The arctic temps here in Chi town have been insane. Time for them to move on and make someone else miserable (sorry if you are that someone else).

Going to bed last night, I triple checked to be sure I had my alarm set so that I could wake up and get a run in around 7am. I wasn’t planning a long run, just a quick 30 minutes out getting some fresh air, shoes to the pavement, enjoying the “me” time. Alarm went off, I got up, slowly started getting myself to wake up enough for my brain to tell my feet to move one in front of the other, and suddenly I hear…”MOOOOOMMMMMMMYYYYYYY!!!!! MOMMMMMMMYYYYYYYYYYY!!!” coming from the room next to mine. Mini Me was awake. I suppose I can’t really complain when she sleeps 12 hours, but darn it… I wanted to be out the door when she woke up. I go in, give her wake-up snuggles, and asks if she wants to hang out with me while I finish getting dressed for my run. She looks at me all innocent and says, “No, Mommy. You can’t go run. I want pancakes.” I explained to her that she can get up, have some milk and a banana while I was running and when I got back I would make her pancakes. Told her I would be gone for 45 minutes, max. She seemed ok with this rationale.

I finished getting dressed, getting my new ear buds in (thanks to my bro-in-law) and my runner’s pepper spray (thanks to D and mom-in-law… we have coyotes around here), and get to moving. Finished my run at a pretty good pace, and entered the kitchen, knowing that Mini Me was probably getting hangry at this time. If you don’t already know this, a hangry three year old is no good. I am pretty sure that is how wars start.

Enter… Pancakes. Now, as a quick reminder, Mini Me is allergic to eggs, milk, peanuts, fish, and shellfish. Baking is constantly difficult, and breakfast foods are one of the most difficult things to work around. But a few years back, I was lucky enough to stumble across a Banana Oatmeal Pancake recipe from the Colourful Palate. These have been a lifesaver for me! I did alter the recipe slightly from theirs, making them less gummy and a bit more toddler approved.

Chocolate Chip Banana Oatmeal Pancakes

Ingredients:

1.5 cups quick cooking oats

0.5 cups whole wheat flour

2 tsp baking powder

0.5 tsp sea salt

1.5 cups unsweetened vanilla almond milk

1 tsp vanilla extract

2 ripe bananas

Mini Chocolate Chips (mine are allergy free)

Canola Oil Spray or Coconut Oil (for pan prep)

Directions

Blend all ingredients until combined, except bananas and chocolate chips.

Add bananas and blend until smooth.

Pour batter onto a hot skillet or griddle prepared with spray or coconut oil (I use my electric skillet because I can fit more), and sprinkle chocolate chips onto the pancakes as desired. Wait until bubbles form in the center of the pancakes and flip to finish.

Recipe will make around 12-15 medium sized pancakes.

After all was said and done, Mini got her pancakes.

BONUS – these refrigerate and reheat really well for quick grab and go breakfasts during the week!

Wow those are some bad allergies! Poor girl, I thought my kid had it bad with his peanut allergy. At least she’s getting some great looking pancakes! They look insanely good and no even close to allergy friendly.

I’m surprised she agreed to the running then pancakes. From my knowledge and experience of 3 year olds, there would’ve been no such understanding! I guess that’s where the boy – girl difference comes into play.

And coyotes! Why the pepper spray? You’re running right? Sounds like good motivation to really put those shoes to the pavement! 😀

So you get the food allergies! I am sure you can agree it is challenging at times. I don’t often buy premade allergy friendly foods due to cost, and I like to think of creating food for her as a challenge.

Have you seen the threenager blasts that have been out there on Facebook?? That is totally her.

LOL!! It does make me run faster, but those little guys are fast and I’m clumsy!